


Like breathing was easy

by bluewishdust



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: F/F, Quiet uses sign language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-13 22:03:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12993456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluewishdust/pseuds/bluewishdust
Summary: "She had become used to Quiet showing up in her room, and oh, what a nice thing it was to get used to."





	Like breathing was easy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Velvet_Velour](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velvet_Velour/gifts).



> I am quite new to this fandom so I have no idea what I'm doing... Forgive me for any inaccuracies.  
> For the title I stole a line from Angels by The xx because that song fits this pairing very well in my opinion.  
> I hope this makes sense and I hope you like it. Let me know if you have any thoughts on this.
> 
> And yeah, @Velvet_Velour: I'm posting this today because it is for you. Take this gift you didn't ask for and let me also say thank you once again for introducing me to this game series...

Flaming Buffalo hadn’t heard her entering the room.

After sitting down, finally sitting down, Flaming Buffalo had closed her eyes for only a moment, the weight of the past day pushing down her lids, and as she had opened them again Quiet had been there, as silent as ever, materialized out of thin air.

Flaming Buffalo smiled. The sniper suddenly appearing next to her didn’t startle her anymore, like it had back then when it had started. Now she had become used to Quiet showing up in her room, and oh, what a nice thing it was to get used to.

“Hey,” Flaming Buffalo said, sitting up a bit straighter, trying not to slouch on her bed too much now that she had a visitor, “You just came back from a mission?”

The question was a stupid one. Not only did she know that she wouldn’t get to hear a reply, the answer was also obvious. Quiet’s uniform had fresh blood stains all over it, undoubtedly not her own.

The sniper took off her uniform jacket without paying much attention to Flaming Buffalo, then she kicked off her boots, seemingly careless about the fact that the floor of Buffalo’s tiny, tidy room got stained with mud in the process. She slipped out of her uniform pants as well.

Only then she seemed like she had truly arrived. Flaming Buffalo heard her sight happily, then the sniper smiled a tiny smile at her, a greeting. Wearing only underpants and a sports bra now, Quiet sat down next to her, one leg tugged in, the other one dangling from the bed.

Flaming Buffalo had to look away for a moment. She knew that there was absolutely nothing sexual about Quiet stripping down in front of her, knew that even though the sniper’s uniform was made out of a breathable material she felt more comfortable without it, but there was still an almost naked woman sitting in her bed now.

She had gotten used to Quiet’s abilities, had gotten used to the way she talked, or rather didn’t most of the time, had gotten used to the way her fellow soldiers looked at her, now that she was “hanging out with the monster”, but she had a hard time getting used to all this bare skin. She should really not get distracted that easily.

Staring at the wall across from her, Flaming Buffalo started to tell Quiet about her day, the minor, not at all exciting tasks she had completed. Between her sentences she took short glances at the woman next to her, checking for a reaction. Then she rambled on. She had slipped on the stairs today, which had been wet from the rain, but no, she hadn’t hurt herself. Lunch had been rather boring, there had been the usual stupid comments as she had walked past some male soldiers. While on guard duty she had spotted a pretty looking bird, no idea what kind though.

Flaming Buffalo knew that none of this mattered, even less compared to Quiet’s objectives, but she told her anyway. For the past few weeks she had gotten the impression that Quiet generally enjoyed listening to her. Why should she come back to her all the time otherwise?

“And how was your day?” she ended her speech, fully looking at Quiet again to see her reply.

The sniper pointed at her mud stained boots and pants, the blood stains on her jacket. She signed something, held four fingers up, then gestured wildly, to make the other woman understand, a grim expression on her face. Then she shrugged.

Flaming Buffalo didn’t know sign language that well yet, but thanks to Quiet breaking it down to universal gestures when talking to her, she understood. Quiet had been to a swamp, and while kneeling in the mud, lurking for a target, a small group of enemy soldiers had attacked her. She had killed them in close combat, using her bare hands mostly, and also a knife, therefore the bloodstains. Nothing all too special.

Now Quiet covered her right eye with one of her hands, a faint smile on her lips. Big Boss had been there too, of course, was what she was saying.

“Well…” Flaming Buffalo commented on Quiet’s story, “Seems like this one was just like any other day, right?” She smiled helplessly. She herself was a well- trained soldier, but she couldn’t keep up with Quiet. Contrary to most other Diamond Dogs she felt like the sniper had any right to be the one to accompany the boss on his missions. Flaming Buffalo wasn’t jealous, she preferred to stay in the background, keeping a low profile.

But she just couldn’t help wondering why an extraordinary woman like Quiet would decide to spend time with a plain soldier like herself.

“There’s still a bit of blood on your cheek,” Flaming Buffalo noticed in that moment and reached out to wipe it away out of a reflex.

Quiet let it happen, didn’t draw back from her touch and only looked at her, an unreadable expression on her face.

Flaming Buffalo noticed how soft the sniper’s skin felt under her own fingers, which were rough and dry from working. And then she realized that anyone else might have ended up with a twisted arm, touching Quiet without asking… especially if the touch lingered, like it did right now.

She drew her hand back quickly, not wanting to overstep any boundaries and searched her pockets for a handkerchief to clean her finger from some random guy’s blood.

In that moment she wanted to touch Quiet again so badly, wanted to be touched by her as well and in a way she felt awful for desiring her.

The sniper came here to talk, to listen, in search for some companionship maybe. Buffalo should not be thinking thoughts like that. But she couldn’t help liking Quiet way more than it was appropriate.

Now Buffalo didn’t know what to say, looked around the room in search of a conversation topic, something she could talk about.

Her gaze wandered back to Quiet. The sniper had leant back and had closed her eyes a bit, she was humming silently and seemed content, at peace. There was no need to talk about anything, so it seemed.

Flaming Buffalo felt happiness creeping up inside her. She was just very comfortable in the sniper’s company, and judging from the looks of it the feeling was mutual. Buffalo couldn’t understand how her fellow soldiers could talk about Quiet in such a bad way and treat her that meanly. Sure, she was strange, nobody knew her true intentions. She was absolutely deadly and unpredictable, that was not to be questioned. But she was also nice, if you made the effort to actually try to understand her. She was sweet even. Not a monster at all, deep down.

Buffalo took another look at Quiet. “Why are you here?” she heard herself ask.

Quiet snapped her eyes open. To sit, she signed, to talk.

“That’s not what I mean…” Flaming Buffalo tried to explain, “I don’t understand why you are _with me_.”

Quiet looked at her in confusion. Then she took Flaming Buffalo’s hand, moved it towards her own cheek, mirroring Buffalo’s movement from before.

“Because I wiped some blood from your cheek?” Flaming Buffalo echoed, a little bit of laughter in her voice.

Quiet shook her head no, signed something Flaming Buffalo didn’t quite understand.

“It’s only because I’m somewhat nice to you, right?” Flaming Buffalo asked, “Compared to the other soldiers I treat you like a human being… there’s no other way in which I’m special, I guess.” Suddenly she felt painfully plain. If Quiet had more soldiers to choose from, she would probably not choose to hang out here. Flaming Buffalo felt stupid, didn’t know where all this self-loathing was coming from, but there was no evidence that spoke against it, was there?

Quiet frowned, her expression more than just slightly offended. Again she tried to sign a reply and had difficulties to make herself clear. She snorted in frustration. Talking about reasons, about feelings, was difficult when there was a language barrier. Eventually she simply reached out and put her hand on Buffalo’s chest, a touch as light as a feather. Her face was calm again, almost expressionless, but if Buffalo wasn’t imagining it, she was blushing.

“You like me?” Flaming Buffalo asked after a long moment, her voice barely a whisper. Quiet nodded slightly, drew a bit closer. Buffalo couldn’t really believe this. “In which way?” she asked, feeling stupid for asking so many questions.

Quiet hesitated a bit, seemed almost bashful. Then she moved even closer until her forehead nearly touched the other woman’s, their lips only inches apart, as if she was going for a kiss.

Flaming Buffalo laughed nervously, not able to process what was happening, what Quiet was telling her here. “I… I feel the same,” she answered truthfully. She liked Quiet way more than she should, had never dared to think that this feeling could be mutual.

But it was Quiet who continued to lean in until their lips met in a tender kiss.

After a moment Flaming Buffalo gently pushed Quiet back, feeling slightly overwhelmed by all of this. “I’m sorry,” she explained, “Just give me a moment to grasp this… I’m having kind of a hard time to breathe.” Her heart rate hadn’t been this high since she had nearly been spotted by an enemy soldier the last time she went on a mission. Her cheeks were burning.

Quiet crooked her head. She reached out again and started to unbutton Buffalo’s shirt. The soldier covered her hands with her own to make her stop and had to laugh. “That’s not how it works for me,” she said in a loving tone, “Not what I meant.”

Quiet smiled. After a moment she leaned closer again to rest her head on the other woman’s shoulder. She hummed contently as Flaming Buffalo embraced her, her rough hands caressing the soft skin of Quiet’s back.

Outside the sun was setting and coloured the skies in the most beautiful colours. Neither of them noticed.


End file.
